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The Fruitcake of Christmas
The Fruitcake of Christmas is the 18th episode of FruityTales and the second holiday special of the series. Plot The episode is set in London in 1882. Cosmo Appythart (Rob the Apple) and Melvin Phelps (Harry the Banana) are jingle writers who decide to make their big break into musical theatre. While Melvin is content to see their work featured on billboards and in newspapers, Cosmo believes they can make a difference in crime-ridden London by staging a grand musical that will move the citizens to greater expressions of love. Their opportunity arises when Melvin‘s Uncle WaterMelon grants them the use of his theater on Christmas Eve. They plan the huge production of a new musical called "The Princess and the Plumber". However, with only three days left until Christmas Eve, they still need a script. Samuel Schwenk (Sullivan's and Gilbert's middle names), their friend and an inventor, shows up in an experimental rocket car (a direct reference to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) and delivers a box of light bulbs to them. Cosmo maintains that if their production is glitzy and bright (electric lights are still a novelty at this time and were first introduced at the Savoy Theatre for Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience) then their show will be a bigger hit and reach more people. He plans to integrate the lights directly into the scenery itself. Cosmo and Melvin also need to convince the city's premiere talent, Constance Ellie Pickering, to star in the lead role, and they need to get a commitment from Prince Carl Roderick to attend the premiere. While Cosmo and his assistant Rob Winston work on Pickering and the Prince, Melvin works to complete the script. Everything eventually starts coming together, and Cavis starts feeling confident that their production will be a huge success. After noticing a flyer for a Christmas pageant planned to occur on the same night at a local church, Cosmo goes to investigate. He observes Eddie Gilbert preparing a low-budget children's play, and concludes that it poses no threat to their production. However, the pageant intends to feature an object called the "Fruitcake of Christmas". Wondering aloud about this as he leaves the church, Cosmo is overheard by Alan McHollingshead. Alan, a historian, reveals that the Fruitcake of Christmas is an ancient relic that has not been publicly displayed for 79 years. He rushes off with great excitement to report the news, which promptly makes the front-page headlines the next morning. Faced with the prospect of losing their audience, and in particular the Prince, to the church play, Cosmo vows to make their own production greater and flashier. However, Cosmo and Melvin cannot convince Prince Roderick to attend their play instead of going to the church pageant. In desperation, the duo sneak into the church at night to steal what Cosmo thinks is the Sponge, but Melvin says looks like a hare. They are caught, however, and narrowly escape from the aged "Mater the Destroyer" who was left to guard the relic. With the Sponge and the flashy lights, Cosmo is certain that "The Princess and the Plumber" is now a guaranteed success. But during dress rehearsal, the excessive number of lights, which Samuel had warned were a fire hazard, ignite the curtains. The theater goes up in flames, taking with it the Fruitcake of Christmas. As Cosmo and Melvin mope over this terrible turn of events, a police officer named Twiglight Howarde arrives with Mater LaGumtree to arrest them for stealing the Sponge. In the jail, they meet a prisoner, Chester Pincher, who laughs at their efforts to spread love by means of an elaborate stage production. He claims that real love makes sacrifices to help others without expecting anything in return and is extremely rare. As if on cue, Eddie and his father, Reginald Gilbert, arrive at the jail to release Cosmo and Melvin, having chosen out of love not to press charges for the theft of the Fruitcake. Cavis is moved, and he expresses his desire to attend the pageant. However, the pageant is scheduled to start in ten minutes and there is not enough time to walk there. Just then, Samuel arrives in his rocket car. He entrusts Melvin to drive the vehicle and try to get them all to the church on time. After a harrowing ride fraught with collisions and near-misses, Cosmo, Melvin, Eddie, and Reginald Gilbert arrive at the church just as the pageant is about to start. The play is a success, with Prince Carl and Miss Pickering in attendance. Cosmo finally learns that Christmas is not about glitz and grand productions, but about a baby in a manger, Jesus, who is the real "Sponge of Christmas". After the play, Mater shows Cosmo and Melvin that the real Fruitcake of Christmas (the object) is actually safe and that the duo actually stole the Hare of Damascus, which most experts consider to be a hoax. The episode ends with Cosmo and Melvin performing a selfless act at last: they bring cookies and a gift to Chester Pincher in his jail cell, and Cosmo says, smiling warmly, "Merry Christmas, Mr. Pincher". Moral * True love is putting someone else's needs above yours. * Don't take other people's stuff without their permission. Trivia * Dental wax (commonly known as orthodontic wax) is used to prevent and treat irritation between the lips, gums and cheeks. * A tart is a baked dish consisting of a filling over a pastry base with an open top not covered with pastry. * The numbers on the church represent the date when Ryan Roberts was married. * In the storyboards, it was Leek 2 that was pulling the wagon instead of 3 Leek #3 appeared in the show. * The street names Anne had to place more posters were Charles Street, Cross Street, Carnaby and Pudding Lane. * The scene of Melvin falling from his seat was done by Jeffery Croke. * This was the first episode for several things: ** The first episode not composed by Kurt Heinecke. ** The first episode Jackie Ritz voices both Laura and Madame Green Tomato. ** The first episode Chuck Vollmer and Joe Spadaford worked on. * This was the last episode for several things: ** The last episode for Stephanie Vischer to voice Anne. ** The last episode Robert Ellis worked on. ** The last Christmas episode until the christmas segment in Pumpkins of The Opera. ** The last Christmas episode to be filmed in 4:3. * The poster for the Christmas pageant was done by Melissa Reale. She used cut potatoes and used them as stamp, but she cut herself while making it. * According to Jim, most of the production team was from 3-2-1 Robots!, with a mix of the crew from Marlin: A FruityTales Movie. * This is the second time Harry had a bruised eye. The first was in Boy-Harry and the Rumor Flower. * The numbers on Cosmo and Melvin's plaques are the actual birth dates of both Phillippe Vischer and Mark Nawrocki. * Even though there are songs in the special, it's not a musical. It's a film about producing a musical. * Cosmo and Melvin were injured from after escaping the theater, but their injuries vanished after being bonded out. * After the rocketcar passed the Tradesman with the wagon of hats, he was seen again when Melvin was going through the second street. * The portrait of Ellie Pickering is clearly a still image if you watch this special on a computer. * As Mike stated in the commentary, Prince Roderick wasn't the crown prince at the time. The reason why was because he didn't want to portray the real crown prince as a Latin cylinder. * This the first Christmas episode not to include a Serious Song, although the PBS Kids broadcast included Oh, Santa! in between. * The fireplace in the office is the same one from Grandmum's Cottage, which contained the penguin figurines. * On the pillar with the poster for the Christmas pageant, you can see a poster of Lyle on the left and a poster of Uncle Blobb's carnival on the right. * The dishes Terry gives to the prisoners are omelets. * The Royal Theater Melvin was talking about Gaiety Theatre. That was also where Sir William Schwenck Gilbert's Robert the Devil. * The music that was playing in the climax is parallel to the Mission Impossible series. * We would see later what Cosmo and Melvin did to repay the damage they caused for burning down Bezzer's Theater. * Rob would make another sinister smile in a FruityTales in the House episode. Goofs * Cosmo's stem phases through his hat when he tells Melvin to write that script and to write like the wind. * During the final shot of Cosmo thinking while he's holding the newspaper, the outline of the small books flash. * The bowler hats the fruits had vanished after they passed through the church entrance. * Black dots can be seen in some shots: ** One is seen on Cosmo's top hat when he tells Melvin to look at that poster over there. ** Another one can been seen in a millisecond when everyone is on the rocket car smashes through the bakery and the bank. ** The next shot can been seen where Cosmo loses his top hat after the car passes the cart of hats, but he regains it in the close-up. * After Melvin told everyone says,"Hang on!", the rocket car overlap through him. * Outlines on certain characters are missing in some shots: ** Cosmo's top hat when Melvin says, "Cosmo, are you okay?" at him. ** Melvin's tie as he's about to fall down from the seat. * The credits states that all the songs were done by Kurt, but he only did music for two though. * Something flashes on Cosmo's top hat when Samuel says, "Yeah, it's right here" at him.